Signaling a Quasi-colocation Update with Aperiodic Reference Signals

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to techniques for signaling a quasi-colocation (QCL) update in a wireless communication system. A network or base station may indicate to a UE to change a spatial relationship for transmission/reception. The base station may provide aperiodic reference signals for the UE to use in beam tracking according to the new spatial relationship. Optionally, the base station may also provide aperiodic reference signals for time, frequency, and/or phase tracking. Thus, the network may configure the UE to change to the new spatial relationship and use the aperiodic reference signals to quickly complete initial tracking operations.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to wireless communication, including toquasi-colocation (QCL) update procedures for base stations and networkelements in a wireless communication system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. Further,wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-onlycommunications to also include the transmission of data, such asInternet and multimedia content.

Mobile electronic devices may take the form of smart phones or tabletsthat a user typically carries. Wearable devices (also referred to asaccessory devices) are a newer form of mobile electronic device, oneexample being smart watches. Additionally, low-cost low-complexitywireless devices intended for stationary or nomadic deployment are alsoproliferating as part of the developing “Internet of Things”. In otherwords, there is an increasingly wide range of desired devicecomplexities, capabilities, traffic patterns, and other characteristics.In general, it would be desirable to recognize and provide improvedsupport for a broad range of desired wireless communicationcharacteristics. Therefore, improvements in the field are desired.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are presented herein of, inter alia, systems, apparatuses,and methods for performing radio resource control connection proceduresfor remote wireless devices in a wireless communication system.

As noted above, the number of use cases for wireless networkscommunicating with different classes of wireless devices with widelyvariable capabilities and usage expectations are growing. One directionin expansion of possible use cases supported by wireless communicationtechniques may include increasing use of beamforming. Wireless networksmay update the spatial relationship (e.g., beam(s)) used to communicatewith wireless devices from time to time. The change to a new beam mayinclude a delay.

Accordingly, the techniques described herein include techniques for anetwork scheduling aperiodic reference signals in association with aspatial relationship update, e.g., in order to expedite the update. Forexample, the network may trigger one or more sets of aperiodic referencesignals (using the new spatial relationship) for a wireless device touse for beam selection and synchronization, among various possibilities.The aperiodic reference signals may be transmitted soon after anindication of the new spatial relationship. For example, the aperiodicreference signals may be transmitted prior to periodic referencesignals.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with anumber of different types of devices, including but not limited tomobile telephones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-basedphones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™), portablegaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DST™, PlayStation Portable™, GameboyAdvancer™, iPhone™), wearable devices (e.g., smart watch, smartglasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, datastorage devices, other handheld devices, vehicle, automobile, unmannedaerial vehicles (e.g., drones) and unmanned aerial controllers, othercellular network infrastructure equipment, servers, and any of variousother computing devices.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following detailed description of the embodiments is consideredin conjunction with the following drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system including anaccessory device, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example wireless communication system in which twowireless devices can perform direct device-to-device communication,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless device,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example base station,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a communication flow diagram illustrating an exemplary methodfor performing QCL updates in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments;

FIGS. 6-8 illustrates aspects of update indication and related signalingbetween a UE and a base station, according to some embodiments; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an example data structure for transmission controlindicator, according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particularform disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Acronyms and Abbreviations

The following acronyms and abbreviations are used in the presentdisclosure.

3GPP: Third Generation Partnership Project

3GPP2: Third Generation Partnership Project 2

GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

LTE: Long Term Evolution

IoT: Internet of Things

QCL: Quasi-Colocation

TCI: Transmission Configuration Indicator

RRC: Radio Resource Control

MAC: Media Access Control

CE: Control Element

Tx: Transmission (or transmit)

Rx: Reception (or receive)

RS: Reference Signal

CSI: Channel State Information

Terminology

The following are definitions of terms used in this disclosure:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium mayinclude other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or morememory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), tablet computers(e.g., iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™), portable gaming devices (e.g., NintendoDS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), wearable devices(e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internetdevices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices,vehicle, automobile, unmanned aerial vehicles (e.g., drones) andunmanned aerial controllers, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UEdevice” can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing,and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) which iseasily transported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Wireless Device—any of various types of computer systems or devices thatperform wireless communications. A wireless device can be portable (ormobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is anexample of a wireless device.

Communication Device—any of various types of computer systems or devicesthat perform communications, where the communications can be wired orwireless. A communication device can be portable (or mobile) or may bestationary or fixed at a certain location. A wireless device is anexample of a communication device. A UE is another example of acommunication device.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless communication system.

Link Budget Limited—includes the full breadth of its ordinary meaning,and at least includes a characteristic of a wireless device (e.g., a UE)which exhibits limited communication capabilities, or limited power,relative to a device that is not link budget limited, or relative todevices for which a radio access technology (RAT) standard has beendeveloped. A wireless device that is link budget limited may experiencerelatively limited reception and/or transmission capabilities, which maybe due to one or more factors such as device design, device size,battery size, antenna size or design, transmit power, receive power,current transmission medium conditions, and/or other factors. Suchdevices may be referred to herein as “link budget limited” (or “linkbudget constrained”) devices. A device may be inherently link budgetlimited due to its size, battery power, and/or transmit/receive power.For example, a smart watch that is communicating over LTE or LTE-A witha base station may be inherently link budget limited due to its reducedtransmit/receive power and/or reduced antenna. Wearable devices, such assmart watches, are generally link budget limited devices. Alternatively,a device may not be inherently link budget limited, e.g., may havesufficient size, battery power, and/or transmit/receive power for normalcommunications over LTE or LTE-A, but may be temporarily link budgetlimited due to current communication conditions, e.g., a smart phonebeing at the edge of a cell, etc. It is noted that the term “link budgetlimited” includes or encompasses power limitations, and thus a powerlimited device may be considered a link budget limited device.

Processing Element (or Processor)—refers to various elements orcombinations of elements that are capable of performing a function in adevice, e.g., in a user equipment device or in a cellular networkdevice. Processing elements may include, for example: processors andassociated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores,entire processor cores, individual processors, processor arrays,circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit),programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array(FPGA), as well as any of various combinations of the above.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

Configured to—Various components may be described as “configured to”perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broadrecitation generally meaning “having structure that” performs the taskor tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured toperform the task even when the component is not currently performingthat task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured toelectrically connect a module to another module, even when the twomodules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be abroad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that”performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component canbe configured to perform the task even when the component is notcurrently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structurecorresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.

Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, forconvenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpretedas including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph six, interpretation for thatcomponent.

FIGS. 1-2—Wireless Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless cellular communicationsystem. It is noted that FIG. 1 represents one possibility among many,and that features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any ofvarious systems, as desired. For example, embodiments described hereinmay be implemented in any type of wireless device.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes acellular base station 102, which communicates over a transmission mediumwith one or more wireless devices 106A, 106B, etc., as well as accessorydevice 107. Wireless devices 106A, 106B, and 107 may be user devices,which may be referred to herein as “user equipment” (UE) or UE devices.

The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cellsite, and may include hardware and/or software that enables wirelesscommunication with the UE devices 106A, 106B, and 107. If the basestation 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately bereferred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. If the base station 102 isimplemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred toas a ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’. The base station 102 may also be equipped tocommunicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellularservice provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among variouspossibilities). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communicationamong the UE devices 106 and 107 and/or between the UE devices 106/107and the network 100. As also used herein, from the perspective of UEs, abase station may sometimes be considered as representing the networkinsofar as uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) communications of the UE areconcerned. Thus, a UE communicating with one or more base stations inthe network may also be interpreted as the UE communicating with thenetwork.

In other implementations, base station 102 can be configured to providecommunications over one or more other wireless technologies, such as anaccess point supporting one or more WLAN protocols, such as 802.11 a, b,g, n, ac, ad, and/or ax, or LTE in an unlicensed band (LAA).

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station 102 may bereferred to as a “cell.” The base station 102 and the UEs 106/107 may beconfigured to communicate over the transmission medium using any ofvarious radio access technologies (RATs) or wireless communicationtechnologies, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced(LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD),Wi-Fi, etc.

Base station 102 and other similar base stations (not shown) operatingaccording to one or more cellular communication technologies may thus beprovided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearlycontinuous overlapping service to UE devices 106A-N and 107 and similardevices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communicationtechnologies.

Note that at least in some instances a UE device 106/107 may be capableof communicating using any of multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, a UE device 106/107 might be configured tocommunicate using one or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, NR,WLAN, Bluetooth, one or more global navigational satellite systems(GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobile televisionbroadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H), etc. Other combinations ofwireless communication technologies (including more than two wirelesscommunication technologies) are also possible. Likewise, in someinstances a UE device 106/107 may be configured to communicate usingonly a single wireless communication technology.

The UEs 106A and 106B may include handheld devices such as smart phonesor tablets, and/or may include any of various types of device withcellular communications capability. For example, one or more of the UEs106A and 106B may be a wireless device intended for stationary ornomadic deployment such as an appliance, measurement device, controldevice, etc. The UE 106B may be configured to communicate with the UEdevice 107, which may be referred to as an accessory device 107. Theaccessory device 107 may be any of various types of wireless devices,typically a wearable device that has a smaller form factor, and may havelimited battery, output power and/or communications abilities relativeto UEs 106. As one common example, the UE 106B may be a smart phonecarried by a user, and the accessory device 107 may be a smart watchworn by that same user. The UE 106B and the accessory device 107 maycommunicate using any of various short range communication protocols,such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. In some instances, the UE 106B and theaccessory device 107 may perform direct peer-to-peer communication usingproximity services (ProSe) techniques, e.g., in a manner supported by acellular base station. For example, such ProSe communication may beperformed as part of a relay link to support a radio resource controlconnection between the accessory device 107 and the BS 102, such asaccording to various embodiments described herein.

The UE 106B may also be configured to communicate with the UE 106A. Forexample, the UE 106A and UE 106B may be capable of performing directdevice-to-device (D2D) communication. The D2D communication may besupported by the cellular base station 102 (e.g., the BS 102 mayfacilitate discovery, among various possible forms of assistance), ormay be performed in a manner unsupported by the BS 102. For example, itmay be the case that the UE 106A and UE 106B are capable of arrangingand performing D2D communication (e.g., including discoverycommunications) with each other even when out-of-coverage of the BS 102and other cellular base stations.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example BS 102 in communication with a UE device106, which in turn is in communication with an accessory device 107. TheUE device 106 and accessory device 107 may be any of a mobile phone, atablet, or any other type of hand-held device, a smart watch or otherwearable device, a media player, a computer, a laptop, UAV, unmannedaerial controller, vehicle, or virtually any type of wireless device. Insome embodiments, the accessory device may be a wireless device designedto have low cost and/or low power consumption, and which may benefitfrom use of a relay link with the UE device 106 (and/or anothercompanion device) to support communication with the BS 102. A devicethat utilizes a relay link with another wireless device to communicatewith a cellular base station, such as in the illustrated scenario ofFIG. 2, may also be referred to herein as a remote wireless device, aremote device, or a remote UE device, while a wireless device thatprovides such a relay link may also be referred to herein as a relaywireless device, a relay device, or relay UE device. According to someembodiments, such a BS 102, UE 106, and accessory device 107 may beconfigured to perform radio resource control procedures for remotewireless devices in accordance with various of the techniques describedherein.

The UE 106 and accessory device 107 may each include a device orintegrated circuit for facilitating cellular communication, referred toas a cellular modem. The cellular modem may include one or moreprocessors (processing elements) that is configured to execute programinstructions stored in memory, and/or various hardware components asdescribed herein. The UE 106 and/or accessory device 107 may eachperform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing suchstored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 and/oraccessory device 107 may include a programmable hardware element such asan FPGA (field-programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and/orany of various other possible hardware components that are configured toperform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the methodembodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the methodembodiments described herein. The cellular modem described herein may beused in a UE device as defined herein, a wireless device as definedherein, or a communication device as defined herein. The cellular modemdescribed herein may also be used in a base station or other similarnetwork side device.

The UE 106 and/or accessory device 107 may include one or more antennasfor communicating using one or more wireless communication protocolsaccording to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, one or bothof the UE 106 or accessory device 107 might be configured to communicateusing a single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a singleantenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) forperforming wireless communications. In general, a radio may include anycombination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processingcircuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers,etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation aswell as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implementone or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementionedhardware.

Alternatively, the UE 106 and/or accessory device 107 may include two ormore radios. For example, in some embodiments, the UE 106 and/oraccessory device 107 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains(e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for eachwireless communication protocol with which it is configured tocommunicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 and/or accessorydevice 107 may include one or more radios that are shared betweenmultiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios thatare used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. Forexample, the UE 106 and/or accessory device 107 may include a sharedradio for communicating using either of LTE or CDMA2000 1×RTT (or LTE orNR, or LTE or GSM), and separate radios for communicating using each ofWi-Fi and BLUETOOTH™. Other configurations are also possible.

FIG. 3—Block Diagram of a UE Device

FIG. 3 illustrates one possible block diagram of an UE device, such asUE device 106 or 107. As shown, the UE device 106/107 may include asystem on chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for variouspurposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s)302 which may execute program instructions for the UE device 106/107,and display circuitry 304 which may perform graphics processing andprovide display signals to the display 360. The SOC 300 may also includemotion sensing circuitry 370 which may detect motion of the UE 106, forexample using a gyroscope, accelerometer, and/or any of various othermotion sensing components. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled tomemory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receiveaddresses from the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses tolocations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, flashmemory 310), and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the displaycircuitry 304, radio 330, I/F 320, and/or display 360. The MMU 340 maybe configured to perform memory protection and page table translation orset up. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as a portion ofthe processor(s) 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE106/107. For example, the UE 106/107 may include various types of memory(e.g., including NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., forcoupling to a computer system, dock, charging station, etc.), thedisplay 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE,LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.).

The UE device 106/107 may include at least one antenna, and in someembodiments multiple antennas 335 a and 335 b, for performing wirelesscommunication with base stations and/or other devices. For example, theUE device 106/107 may use antennas 335 a and 335 b to perform thewireless communication. As noted above, the UE device 106/107 may insome embodiments be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiplewireless communication standards or radio access technologies (RATs).

The wireless communication circuitry 330 may include Wi-Fi Logic 332, aCellular Modem 334, and Bluetooth Logic 336. The Wi-Fi Logic 332 is forenabling the UE device 106/107 to perform Wi-Fi communications on an802.11 network. The Bluetooth Logic 336 is for enabling the UE device106/107 to perform Bluetooth communications. The cellular modem 334 maybe a lower power cellular modem capable of performing cellularcommunication according to one or more cellular communicationtechnologies.

As described herein, UE 106/107 may include hardware and softwarecomponents for implementing embodiments of this disclosure. Theprocessor(s) 302 of the UE device 106/107 may be configured to implementpart or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing programinstructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, processor(s) 302may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit). Furthermore, proccssor(s) 302 may be coupled toand/or may interoperate with other components as shown in FIG. 3, toperform radio resource control procedures for remote wireless devicesaccording to various embodiments disclosed herein. Processor(s) 302 mayalso implement various other applications and/or end-user applicationsrunning on UE 106. Alternatively or additionally, one or more componentsof the wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., cellular modem 334)of the UE device 106/107 may be configured to implement part or all ofthe methods described herein, e.g., by a processor executing programinstructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory medium), a processor configured as an FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array), and/or using dedicated hardwarecomponents, which may include an ASIC (Application Specific IntegratedCircuit).

FIG. 4—Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station 102,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG.4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106/107, access tothe telephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also oralternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., acore network of a cellular service provider. The core network mayprovide mobility related services and/or other services to a pluralityof devices, such as UE devices 106/107. For example, the core networkmay include a mobility management entity (MME), e.g., for providingmobility management services, a serving gateway (SGW) and/or packet datanetwork gateway (PGW), e.g., for providing external data connectionssuch as to the Internet, etc. In some cases, the network port 470 maycouple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the corenetwork may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devicesserviced by the cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as awireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate withUE devices 106/107 via radio 430. The antenna(s) 434 communicates withthe radio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 maybe a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may beconfigured to communicate via various wireless communication standards,including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A, NR, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000,Wi-Fi, etc.

The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly usingmultiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the basestation 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the basestation 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 mayinclude an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE aswell as a Wi-Fi radio for performing communication according to Wi-Fi.In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as bothan LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility,the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable ofperforming communications according to any of multiple wirelesscommunication technologies (e.g., LTE and NR, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE andUMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may includehardware and software components for implementing or supportingimplementation of features described herein. According to someembodiments, the processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configuredto implement part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., byexecuting program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, theprocessor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, suchas an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively(or in addition) the processor 404 of the BS 102, in conjunction withone or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470may be configured to implement or support implementation of radioresource control procedures for remote wireless devices according tovarious embodiments disclosed herein, and/or any of various other of thefeatures described herein.

FIG. 5—Communication Flow Diagram

Reducing and/or avoiding latency and delays may be a priority in somewireless communication systems. In wireless communication systems thatincorporate beamforming, one type of latency may be associated withchanging or updating the spatial relationship and related transmissioncontrol between a BS and a UE. For example, if a BS updates a spatialrelationship (e.g., selects a new transmission (Tx) beam to use for DLtransmissions to the UE), the UE may perform measurements on referencesignals associated with the new Tx beam. The measurements may includebeam tracking measurements used by the UE to select a receive (Rx) beamto use to receive DL transmissions. Similarly, the beam trackingmeasurements may be used by the UE to select a Tx beam to use totransmit UL transmissions. Further, the measurements may include time,phase, and/or frequency offset measurements, which may be used by the UEto maintain synchronization with the network and/or other devices, suchas an accessory device. If these measurements are performed usingperiodic reference signals, the delay between an indication of the newspatial relationship and the UE completing the measurements (e.g., andthus being ready for communication of user data using the new spatialrelationship) may be considerable.

FIG. 5 is a communication flow diagram illustrating a method forperforming updates of spatial relationships in a wireless communicationsystem, according to some embodiments. The method of FIG. 5 may reducethe latency/delay associated with the update(s). In various embodiments,some of the elements of the methods shown may be performed concurrently,in a different order than shown, may be substituted for by other methodelements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also beperformed as desired.

Aspects of the method of FIG. 5 may be implemented by a wireless deviceand/or a cellular base station, such as the UEs 106 or 107 and/or BS 102illustrated in and described with respect to the Figures, or moregenerally in conjunction with any of the computer systems, circuitry,elements, components or devices shown in the Figures, among otherdevices, as desired. For example, one or more processors (or processingelements) (e.g., processor(s) 302, 404, baseband processor(s),processor(s) associated with communication circuitry such as 330, 430,or 432, processors associated with various core network elements, etc.,among various possibilities) may cause a UE, network element, and/or BSto perform some or all of the illustrated method elements. Note thatwhile at least some elements of the method of FIG. 5 are described in amanner relating to the use of communication techniques and/or featuresassociated with LTE, NR, and/or 3GPP specification documents, suchdescription is not intended to be limiting to the disclosure, andaspects of the method of FIG. 5 may be used in any suitable wirelesscommunication system, as desired. As shown, the method may operate asfollows.

A UE and a BS may establish communication (502), according to someembodiments. The communication may be performed according to a firstspatial relationship. For example, the first spatial relationship mayinclude using a first Tx beam of the BS and using a first Rx beam of theUE for DL transmissions. Similarly, a first Rx beam of the BS and afirst Tx beam of the UE may be used for UL transmissions. The beams usedfor DL transmissions may or may not correspond to the beams used for ULtransmissions.

In some embodiments, the BS may configure the UE with multiple spatialrelationships. For example, a spatial relationship may be specified by atransmission configuration indication (TCI) state. A TCI state mayindicate a quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship between one or more ofvarious (e.g., periodic) reference signals (RS) and the control and/ordata channels (e.g., physical DL control channel (PDCCH) and/or physicalDL shared channel (PDSCH) etc.) that the BS may use to transmit to theUE. Thus, the UE may use the RS (e.g., that is QCL with the controland/or data channels according to the TCI) to decode DL transmissionsfrom the BS. The BS may use higher layer signaling (e.g., radio resourcecontrol (RRC)) to configure any number of TCI states and (e.g., later)use lower layer signaling (e.g., downlink control information (DCI)) toselect a TCI state to use.

In some embodiments, the UE may also establish communication with one ormore other BSs (not shown in the figure). Such communication between theUE and multiple BSs may be referred to as multi-transmission/receptionpoint (TRP) operation, e.g., a BS may be referred to as a TRP. The UEmay have different spatial relationships with each BS, according to someembodiments. For example, the UE may use different Rx beams to receivedata from each of the different BSs. In some embodiments, the UE may beable to receive from multiple BSs (e.g., using multiple Rx beams)simultaneously. However, the UE may only be able to transmit to a singleBS at a time, according to some embodiments. In other words, a UE mayuse one Tx beam (e.g., which may point in a direction toward the BS) ata time, according to some embodiments. Accordingly, a single BS may beused for UL communication (e.g., at a time), according to someembodiments.

The UE may provide the network (e.g., the BS) with various capabilityinformation. For example, the UE may indicate how many Rx beams the UEis able to (e.g., or is currently configured to) use. Similarly, the UEmay indicate its processing delay, e.g., how much time lapses betweenthe UE receiving control signaling (e.g., DL control information (DCI),etc.) and the implementation of the control signaling. For example, theprocessing delay may indicate the number of symbols between receiving anindication of a TCI state and the UE being ready to receive RS accordingto the TCI state.

The UE and the BS(s) may communicate using one or more radio accesstechnologies (RATs), e.g., NR. The UE and BS may exchange applicationand/or control data in the UL and/or DL directions. The communicationand measurements may occur on any frequency or combination offrequencies, e.g., including licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum. Thecommunication and measurements may continue (e.g., periodically,randomly, as needed, etc.) for any amount of time. For example, thecommunication and measurements may occur over any number of subframesand/or symbols. The measurements may include any radio link measurementssuch as signal-noise ratio (SNR), signal to interference and noise ratio(SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signalreceived quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI),block error rate (BLER), bit error rate (BER), channel impulse response(CIR), channel error response (CER), etc. The UE and/or BS may retain ahistory of measurement values. The UE/BS may compare the measurementvalues, or metrics calculated based on the measured values, to one ormore thresholds. The UE/BS may use various parameters, e.g., forhysteresis, in such comparisons. The measurements, thresholds, and/orparameters may be configured by the BS (e.g., by the network) and/or bythe UE. The UE and/or BS may report measurement values (e.g., directlyand/or as channel quality indicator (CQI), channel state information(CSI), etc.), comparison results, etc. to each other and/or to thenetwork at any time. Based on measurements, the UE and/or BS(s) maydetermine that changes in what beams are used may be beneficial. The UEmay track RS associated with a current spatial relationship and performmeasurements using those RS, among various possibilities.

The BS may determine to update the spatial relationship and may transmitan indication to the UE of the new spatial relationship (504), accordingto some embodiments. The updated spatial relationship may be based onthe various measurements, thresholds, and/or parameters discussed above.The indication may be or include a ICI, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the BS may determine to update the spatialrelationship for the UE with respect to one or more other BS as well.For example, the BS may receive an indication to update the spatialrelationship for one or more other BS from another BS (e.g., via an X2interface, e.g., which BSs may use for coordination) or from a networkelement. Alternatively, the BS may determine to update the relationshipfor one or more other BS based on its own measurements (e.g., indicatingthat the UE is moving, etc.). In other words, the BS may determine achange in position of the UE and use geometry to determine updatedspatial relationships for itself and/or one or more other BS based onthe change in the UE's position.

In some embodiments, the new spatial relationship(s) may have beenpreviously configured (e.g., by RRC during 502). Accordingly, the newspatial relationships may be indicated as a reference (e.g., an index,etc.) to a previously configured spatial relationship, e.g., received insignaling from the BS. However, the UE may not have been previouslytracking RS associated with the new spatial relationship(s).

The UE may receive the indication of the new spatial relationship(s).The UE may determine not to immediately acknowledge the indication. Forexample, the UE may determine to delay acknowledging the indicationuntil the UE has completed one or more measurements (e.g., for beamselection, tracking, and/or refinement using aperiodic or periodic RS)according to the new spatial relationship(s).

The BS and/or other network element may schedule aperiodic RS for thenew spatial relationship(s) and the BS may transmit an indication of thescheduled aperiodic RS to the UE (506), according to some embodiments.The aperiodic RS may be scheduled considering the processing delay ofthe UE, e.g., so that the first symbol of the RS may occur a thresholdamount of time after the indication of the changed spatial relationship(e.g., 504).

Although illustrated as occurring subsequently to the indication of thechanged spatial relationship (e.g., 504), it will be appreciated thatthis timing relationship is only one example. The indication of thescheduled aperiodic RS (e.g., 506) may occur prior to, concurrentlywith, or subsequently to the indication of the changed spatialrelationship (e.g., 504). Similarly, the two indications (e.g., 504,506) may be transmitted in the same or different message(s). The twoindications may be transmitted in any combination of various types ofmessages. For example, DCI and/or MAC CE signaling may be used totransmit either or both of the indications.

In some embodiments, aperiodic RS associated with multiple new spatialrelationships may be indicated (e.g., in one message/indication or inmultiple messages/indications). For example, in the case of multi-BSoperation, aperiodic RS may be scheduled for the different BSs. Theaperiodic RS from the various BSs may be scheduled on the sametime/frequency and/or at different time/frequency resources (e.g., oroverlapping resources).

In some embodiments, the aperiodic RS may be channel state information(CSI) RS.

Sufficient repetitions of the aperiodic RS may be scheduled to allow theUE to perform beam tracking using the new spatial relationship(s). Inother words, a first set of aperiodic RS may include one or morerepetition (e.g., to be transmitted with the same Tx beam of the BS) foreach Rx beam of the UE (e.g., as indicated by the UE in 502). Forexample, if a UE indicates that it has (or intends to select from) 8 Rxbeams, the first set of aperiodic RS may include 8 or more repetitions.

In some embodiments, additional aperiodic RS may also be scheduled. Forexample, in addition to a first set of aperiodic RS (e.g., for beamtracking, as described above) a second set of aperiodic RS may bescheduled for the UE to perform tracking of time, frequency, and/orphase. In some embodiments, the second/additional set of aperiodic RSmay be CSI-RS configured with tracking RS (TRS) information. Forexample, TRS may be a special type of CSI-RS (e.g., sometimes referredto as CSI-RS for tracking) described in section 5.1.6.1.1 of 3GPP38.214. TRS may be configured via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC,according to some embodiments. Thus, the second/additional set ofaperiodic RS may be TRS.

The BS(s) may transmit the indicated (e.g., aperiodic) RS and the UE mayreceive the RS (508), according to some embodiments. For example, in thecase of multi-BS operation, the BSs may each transmit the aperiodic RSon the scheduled time/frequency resources and the UE may receive the RSfrom the various BSs.

Based on the RS, the UE may select a beam (510), according to someembodiments. For example, the UE may perform measurements using its Rxbeams, e.g., using a different Rx beam to receive the repetitions of the(e.g., first set of) aperiodic RS. Based on the measurements, the UE mayselect a Rx beam (e.g., with the best RSRP or other characteristics) forthe new spatial relationship. In the case of multi-BS operation, the UEmay select the same or different Rx beams for the different spatialrelationships/BSs.

In some embodiments, the UE may also select a Tx beam for the newspatial relationship (e.g., or multiple Tx beams, in the case ofmulti-BS operation). The selected Tx beam(s) may or may not correspondto the selected Rx beam(s).

It will be appreciated that the beam selection may be performed based onthe aperiodic RS. Thus, the UE may not wait for periodic RS in order toperform the measurements and/or beam selection.

After receiving the aperiodic RS (e.g., and possibly after selecting theRx beam(s)), the UE may transmit an acknowledgement of the indication ofthe changed spatial relationship (512), according to some embodiments.In other words, the delay for acknowledging the indication of thechanged spatial relationship may conclude after receiving the RS. Insome embodiments, the acknowledgement may be transmitted with a Tx beamaccording to the new spatial relationship.

In some embodiments, the acknowledgement may include or be transmittedwith an indication of the selected Rx and/or Tx beam(s) of the UE. Insome embodiments, such an indication may be transmitted separately.

The UE and the BS(s) may exchange data using the new spatialrelationship(s) (514), according to some embodiments. For example, DLtransmissions may be made by the BS(s) using a Tx beam according to thenew spatial relationship(s), and the UE may use the selected Rx beam(s)to receive the DL transmissions.

For UL transmissions, in the case of multi-BS operation, the UE mayselect a spatial relationship to use. For example, the UE may select totransmit UL transmissions to a particular one of the BSs, e.g., based onmeasurements of the aperiodic RS. In some embodiments, which BS the UEshould use for UL transmissions may be configured by the network. Insome embodiments, such an indication may be made flexibly (e.g., usingDCI). In other embodiments, the indication may be made using higherlayer signaling, e.g., MAC CE or RRC, etc.

The BS(s) may provide periodic RS, e.g., using the new spatialrelationship(s). At least a subset of the periodic RS may share a QCLwith the aperiodic RS, e.g., and QCL with the channels used for dataexchange. The UE may use the periodic RS that share the QCL with thechannels used for data exchange for pathloss measurement and UL powercontrol.

FIGS. 6-9 and Additional Information

FIGS. 6-9 and the following additional information are provided as beingillustrative of further considerations and possible implementationdetails relating to the method of FIG. 5, and are not intended to belimiting to the disclosure as a whole. Numerous variations andalternatives to the details provided herein below are possible andshould be considered within the scope of the disclosure. It will beappreciated that the timelines of FIGS. 6-8 are not to scale.

FIG. 6 illustrates the delay associated with a spatial relationshipupdate (e.g., via TCI update), according to some embodiments. The actiontime for a TCI indication 602 may vary by whether the new DL-RS (e.g.,periodic RS that shares a QCL with the new TCI) in the TCI is tracked bythe UE or not, e.g., prior to the TCI update. If the UE tracked thisTCI, e.g. was previously configured to measure the new DL-RS and reporta CSI based on the new DL-RS, the action time may be based (e.g., only)on the processing delay to decode the control signaling for TCIindication 604. Such a delay may be relatively short, e.g., may end withthe acknowledgement (ACK) for the TCI indication 606.

However, if the UE has not tracked this TCI, the action time may bebased on the processing delay to decode the control signaling 604 forTCI indication as well as the tracking latency 608. For a UE withmultiple Rx beams, the UE perform measurements of multiple DL RS 610a-610 n using the new spatial relation, e.g., to find out the best Rxbeam based on multiple measurements. In other words, using a series of(e.g., periodic) RS transmitted by the BS using the new spatialrelationship, the UE may take measurements of the instances of the RSusing different Rx beams in sequence. Thus, the total action time (e.g.,total delay) 612 may be equal to 604 plus 608. The series of periodic RSmay be transmitted on a regular basis by the base station, but there maybe significant time in between each transmission of the periodic RS.Accordingly, the tracking latency 608 may be based in part on the amountof time between the periodic RS transmissions.

However, according to the method of FIG. 5, aperiodic CSI-RS (or otherRS) may be used to update the QCL to reduce the beam indication latency.This may be achieved by using TCI indication signaling (or associatedsignaling) to trigger aperiodic CSI-RS. The QCL indication for theaperiodic CSI-RS may be indicated in the new TCI state. Further,pathloss reference signal for uplink power control may be explicitlyindicated in the signaling or may be implicitly signaled. Further, theQCL indication may be extended for multi-TRP operation.

FIG. 7 illustrates the delay associated with a spatial relationshipupdate (e.g., via TCI update), according to some embodiments, e.g.,incorporating aperiodic RS to reduce the delay. As shown, the networkmay trigger aperiodic CSI-RS and the TCI indication signaling at thesame time (e.g., or at similar times) to reduce QCL indication latency.One or more of the resources in the aperiodic CSI-RS resource set (710a-710 n) may be indicated in the new TCI. For example, the indicationmay specify the time and frequency of the first repetition of theaperiodic CSI. The aperiodic CSI-RS resource set may be configured withrepetition=on, which means the base station may transmit the CSI-RSresources from the same port (e.g., using the same beam). It will beappreciated that in FIG. 7, the aperiodic RS may be transmitted in rapidsuccession (e.g., one repetition may closely or immediately follow theprevious repetition). This may be a contrast to periodic RS (e.g., asillustrated in FIG. 6) for which there may be time in between thesuccessive instances of the periodic RS. Thus, using the aperiodic RSmay allow the UE to perform measurements with each beam in less timethan performing similar measurements using periodic RS (e.g., 708 may beshorter than 608). Since the beam tracking may be performed prior toacknowledging the ICI indication, the total action time 712 may be equalto the delay for TCI indication 706. However, it will be appreciatedthat 706 may be longer than 606, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates the incorporation of a second set of aperiodic RS(814 a-814 n), e.g., for time, phase, and/or frequency tracing,according to some embodiments. As shown, the BS may trigger one or moreadditional CSI-RS resource set used for time/frequency offset trackingand/or phase offset tracking with the new QCL assumption. The additionalCSI-RS resource set(s) may be transmitted after the first CSI-RSresource set for beam tracking. Thus, the UE may select a Rx beam (e.g.,based on measurements using the first CSI-RS resource set 710 a-710 n)and then perform time, frequency, and/or phase tracking using theadditional CSI resource set(s) 814 a-814 n. The second CSI-RS resourceset may be configured for tracking, e.g., as TRS.

In some embodiments, the additional CSI resource set(s) 814 a-814 n maybe multiplexed in 1 or 2 slots with a 3 symbol gap between resources.For example, TRS may be multiplexed in symbol {4, 8} in a slot, orsymbol {4, 8} {4, 8} in two consecutive slots, among variouspossibilities. It will be appreciated that other multiplexingarrangements (e.g., in different symbols and/or with different gaps,including no gap, between symbols) may be used as desired.

Thus, the total action time 812 may be equal to the sum of the delay forbeam tracking 708 and the delay for time, frequency, and/or phasetracking 816. Since the beam tracking and time, frequency, and/or phasetracking may be performed prior to acknowledging the TCI indication, thetotal action time 812 may be equal to the delay for TCI indication 806.However, it will be appreciated that 806 may be longer than 606 or 706,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a TCI state, e.g., as may be used according to 3GPPTS 38.331, among various possibilities. As shown, QCL information may beprovided according to one or more QCL types for one or more cells (e.g.,BSs).

In standards documents, (e.g., 3GPP Release-15), the following QCL typesmay be defined (see, e.g., 5.1.5 in 38.214):

‘QCL-TypeA’: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delayspread},

‘QCL-TypeB’: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread},

‘QCL-TypeC’: {Doppler shift, average delay}, and

‘QCL-TypeD’: {Spatial Rx parameter}.

The BS may update the QCL for DL signals by transmission configurationindication (TCI). A UE may be configured with a number of ICI states byRRC. A BS may use lower layer signaling, e.g., MAC CE or DCI, to selectone of the TCI states. In some embodiments, a BS may provide DL RS asthe QCL source for a TCI state. In other words, periodic RS transmittedby the BS may be used by any UEs associated with a TCI state that sharesa QCL with the periodic RS. For example, a QCL source in a TCI state(e.g., used for a DL channel) may be a periodic RS in the TCI statewhich shares a QCL with the DL channel.

In some embodiments, the ICI state may also be used for UL signals andchannel for UE to derive the Tx beam for UL signals. In other words, theUE may use the DL RS indicated in the ICI State as the reference toderive the Tx beam. In one example, UE may use the same beam to transmitUL signal as that to receive DL signal. This reference signal may alsobe used for pathloss measurement to derive the UL transmission poweraccording to the rules defined in section 7 in TS 38.213.

With regard to beam tracking for further communication (e.g., in 514),the first CSI-RS resource set (e.g., the first aperiodic RS, e.g.,discussed with respect to 506, 508, and 510 and illustrated in FIG. 7)may be QCLed (e.g., may share a QCL) with a periodic reference signal.The periodic reference signal may be synchronization signal block (SSB)or CSI-RS, among various possibilities. The periodic reference signalmay be in the same component carrier (CC) or in a different CC. The QCLmay be based on at least one of the following parameters: Doppler shift,Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, spatial Rx parameter, andaverage channel gain. Thus, the network (e.g., or BS) may determine anyone or more of these parameters, and based on the determination, mayselect the RS and/or TCI. In one example, the aperiodic RS and thecorresponding downlink/uplink channel may share the same TCI indication,where the source RS in the TCI state may be a periodic RS. In anotherexample, the aperiodic RS may be configured as the source RS in the TCIstate applied for the corresponding downlink/uplink channel, and theaperiodic RS may be indicated with a TCI state with a periodic RS as theQCL source. The second aperiodic CSI-RS resource set may share the sameQCL properties as the first aperiodic CSI-RS resource set (e.g., withrespect to FIGS. 8, 710 and 814 may share QCL).

It will be appreciated that the control signaling for TCI indication maybe performed in various ways. Example details of three options for thecontrol signaling are explained below, according to some embodiments.

In a first option, the TCI indication and the triggering of aperiodicCSI-RS resource set may be carried by the same DCI. In some embodiments,the DCI may include at least the following two fields:

TCI indication. The BS may indicate one of the TCI States configured inhigher layer, e.g. RRC or MAC CE.

CSI request. The BS may trigger one or two aperiodic CSI-RS resource setbased on the resource sets configured by RRC.

In a second option, the TCI indication may be carried by MAC CE and thetriggering of aperiodic CSI-RS resource set may be carried by the DCIused to trigger the PDSCH for the same MAC CE. For example, a DCI maytrigger aperiodic RS and may schedule a MAC CE in a PDSCH. The MAC CEmay include the TCI indication. In some embodiments, the DCI may includeat least the following field: CSI request. The BS may trigger one or twoaperiodic CSI-RS resource set based on the resource sets configured byRRC. In the MAC CE, BS may indicate one of the TCI States configured byRRC.

In a third option, the TCI indication and the triggering of aperiodicCSI-RS resource set may be carried by a MAC CE or separate MAC CEs. Forexample, in a MAC CE, the BS may trigger one or two aperiodic CSI-RSresource set based on the resource sets configured by RRC. Further, inthe MAC CE, BS may indicate one of the TCI States configured by RRC.

For any of the signaling options discussed above, the triggering offsetbetween the last symbol of the triggering signaling and the first symbolof aperiodic CSI-RS resource set may be larger than a threshold reportedby the UE. This may accommodate the processing delay for UE to decodethe triggering signaling. For example, based on UE capabilityinformation, the network/BS may ensure that sufficient time is availablefor the UE to process the TCI indication and be ready to receive the RSusing an Rx beam according to the indicated TCI.

For any of the signaling options discussed above, the number of CSI-RSresources (or other aperiodic RS) in a (e.g., first) resource set (e.g.,710 a-710 n) should be no less than a number reported by the UE. Forexample, based on UE capability information, the network/BS may ensurethat sufficient repetitions are in the first RS set for the UE toreceive one (or more) repetition with each Rx beam of the UE. In otherwords, the number of repetitions may be greater than or equal to thenumber of Rx beams of the UE.

One change associated with changing to a new spatial relationship, e.g.,a new TCI, is that the UE may use different periodic RS for pathlossmeasurement and UL power control. The BS/network may implicitly orexplicitly indicate (e.g., and the UE may determine) the RS to be usedfor pathloss measurement (e.g., following the change in spatialrelationship) in various ways. For example, if there is no additionalpathloss RS explicitly indicated, the pathloss measurement for theuplink signal, which the new TCI State is applied to, may be based on aperiodic reference signal, which is configured as the QCL source of theaperiodic CSI-RS. Thus, the UE may determine to perform pathlossmeasurement using a periodic RS that shares QCL with the aperiodic RS.In one example, if the BS triggers aperiodic CSI-RS resource set 1 in aTCI switching signaling, and the resources in the aperiodic CSI-RSresource set 1 is QCLed with SSB 1, the SSB 1 may be used as thepathloss reference signal. Alternatively, BS may explicitly indicate thenew pathloss reference signal by the control signaling for TCIswitching. In one example, BS may indicate the pathloss reference signalindex by DCI or MAC CE, which is selected from the pathloss referencesignal pool configured by RRC. In another example, a BS/network maydetermine that a first set of periodic RS (e.g., SSB 1) is QCL with theaperiodic CSI-RS. In response to the determination that the first set ofperiodic RS is QCL with the aperiodic CSI-RS, the BS/network maydetermine not to explicitly indicate a pathloss RS. The UE may determinebased on the lack of explicit indication of a pathloss RS, to use thefirst set of periodic RS, e.g., based on the first set of periodic RSbeing QCL with the aperiodic CSI-RS.

Further, as discussed above, the method of FIG. 5 may be applied in thecase of a UE in communication with multiple BSs simultaneously. Formulti-TRP operation, BS may indicate more than 1 TCI States, e.g. 2 TCIState. The UE may receive the TCI States simultaneously by multiplepanels (e.g., of antennas). The network may trigger two or moreaperiodic CSI-RS resource sets for beam tracking for each UE panel. Forexample, each of the BSs may transmit one set of aperiodic RS for eachpanel of the U E. For example, if a UE has 2 panels and each panel has 8Rx beams, each BS may transmit 2 sets of aperiodic RS for beam trackingand each set of aperiodic RS may have 8 repetitions. Thus, 16 totalrepetitions (for each BS) may be transmitted, corresponding to the 16total Rx beams of the UE. Similarly, the network may trigger another twoor more (e.g., one or more from each BS) aperiodic CSI-RS resource setsfor time/frequency offset tracking for each UE panel.

The CSI-RS resource sets with the same functionality may be transmittedin overlapped symbols or non-overlapped symbols, which may be based on aUE capability. In other words, aperiodic RS for beam tracking may betransmitted by different BSs at the same, different, or partlyoverlapping times. However, the aperiodic RS for time, frequency, and/orphase tracking may be transmitted subsequently to the aperiodic RS forbeam tracking. The aperiodic RS for time, frequency, and/or phasetracking may be transmitted by multiple BSs at the same time, differenttimes, or partly overlapping times.

In some embodiments, a UE may support one antenna panel for uplinktransmission but two panels for downlink reception. Thus, UE may receive2 TCI States but may only use (or be indicated with) 1 TCI State foruplink transmission. If the TCI switching signaling is applied for bothUL and DL channel, when 2 TCI States are indicated, the UE may selectone of the TCI State for uplink channel. For example, the UE may selecta first TCI State, e.g., associated with a first BS or may select asecond ICI State, e.g., associated with a second BS. In someembodiments, the UE may perform this selection based on measurements(e.g., selecting the BS with lower pathloss, and thus lower transmitpower requirements). In some embodiments, the network may select whichTCI state should be used and may configure the UE accordingly, e.g., byDCI or higher layer signaling, e.g. MAC CE or RRC.

Yet another exemplary embodiment may include a method, comprising: by awireless device: performing any or all parts of the preceding examples.

Another exemplary embodiment may include a wireless device, comprising:an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processing elementoperably coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured toimplement any or all parts of the preceding examples.

Still another exemplary embodiment may include an apparatus, comprising:a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to implementany or all parts of the preceding examples.

A further exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitorycomputer accessible memory medium comprising program instructions which,when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or allparts of any of the preceding examples.

A still further exemplary set of embodiments may include a computerprogram comprising instructions for performing any or all parts of anyof the preceding examples.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatuscomprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of thepreceding examples.

Any of the methods described herein for operating a user equipment (UE)may be the basis of a corresponding method for operating a base station,by interpreting each message/signal X received by the UE in the DL asmessage/signal X transmitted by the base station, and eachmessage/signal Y transmitted in the UL by the UE as a message/signal Yreceived by the base station.

In addition to the above-described exemplary embodiments, furtherembodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of variousforms. For example, some embodiments may be realized as acomputer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or acomputer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or morecustom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodimentsmay be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such asFPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory mediummay be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data,where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE 106 or 107) may be configuredto include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium,where the memory medium stores program instructions, where the processoris configured to read and execute the program instructions from thememory medium, where the program instructions are executable toimplement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or,any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, anysubset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, anycombination of such subsets). The device may be realized in any ofvarious forms.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A base station, comprising: a radio; and aprocessor operably connected to the radio and configured to cause thebase station to: communicate with a user equipment device (UE) accordingto a first spatial relationship; transmit, to the UE, an indication touse a second spatial relationship and an indication of first aperiodicreference signals; transmit, to the UE, the first aperiodic referencesignals according to the second spatial relationship; and subsequent totransmitting the first aperiodic reference signals according to thesecond spatial relationship, receive, from the UE, an acknowledgement ofthe indication to use the second spatial relationship.
 2. The basestation of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to causethe base station to: transmit, to the UE, an indication of secondaperiodic reference signals; transmit, to the UE, the second aperiodicreference signals according to the second spatial relationship, whereinthe second aperiodic reference signals are transmitted prior toreceiving the acknowledgement of the indication to use the secondspatial relationship.
 3. The base station of claim 2, wherein the secondaperiodic reference signals are configured for time and/or frequencyoffset tracking measurements.
 4. The base station of claim 2, whereinthe second aperiodic reference signals are tracking reference signals.5. The base station of claim 1, wherein the indication of the firstaperiodic reference signals is transmitted in a first downlink controlinformation message that also schedules a first media access control(MAC) control element (CE), wherein the indication to use the secondspatial relationship is transmitted in the first MAC CE.
 6. The basestation of claim 1, wherein the indication to use the second spatialrelationship and the indication of the first aperiodic reference signalsare transmitted in a same media access control (MAC) control element(CE).
 7. The base station of claim 1, wherein the indication to use thesecond spatial relationship and the indication of the first aperiodicreference signals are transmitted in a same downlink control informationmessage.
 8. An apparatus, comprising: a processor configured to cause abase station of a cellular network to: transmit data to a user equipmentdevice (UE) using a first transmit beam; determine to use a secondtransmit beam to transmit to the UE; transmit, to the UE, an indicationof the second transmit beam and an indication of a first plurality ofaperiodic reference signals; transmit, to the UE, the first plurality ofaperiodic reference signals using the second transmit beam, wherein thefirst plurality of aperiodic reference signals is transmitted prior toreceiving an acknowledgement of the indication of the second transmitbeam from the UE; and receive the acknowledgement of the indication ofthe second transmit beam from the UE.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the processor is further configured to cause the base stationto: transmit, to the UE, periodic reference signals in quasi-colocationwith the first plurality of aperiodic reference signals, wherein thequasi-colocation is based on average channel gain.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the basestation to: transmit, to the UE, periodic reference signals inquasi-colocation with the first plurality of aperiodic referencesignals, wherein the quasi-colocation is based on one or more of:Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, or spatialRx parameter.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor isfurther configured to cause the base station to: receive, from the UE,an indication of a processing delay of the UE: and determine an offsetbetween a last symbol of the indication of the second transmit beam anda first symbol of the first plurality of aperiodic reference signalsbased on the processing delay of the UE.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the processor is further configured to cause the base stationto: receive, from the UE, an indication of a number of receive beams ofthe UE; and determine a number of the first plurality of aperiodicreference signals based on the number of receive beams of the UE. 13.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured tocause the base station to: transmit, to the UE, an indication of a thirdtransmit beam of a second base station and an indication of a secondplurality of aperiodic reference signals associated with the thirdtransmit beam of the second base station.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the processor is further configured to cause the base stationto: transmit, to the UE, an indication of a third plurality of aperiodicreference signals associated with the third transmit beam of the secondbase station and a fourth plurality of aperiodic reference signalsassociated with the second transmit beam; and transmit, to the UE, thefourth plurality of aperiodic reference signals with the second transmitbeam, wherein the fourth plurality of aperiodic reference signals istransmitted prior to receiving the acknowledgement of the indication ofthe second transmit beam from the UE.
 15. A method, comprising: at abase station of a cellular network: establishing communication with auser equipment device (UE) according to a first transmission controlstate; transmitting, to the UE, an indication to use a secondtransmission control state and an indication of first aperiodicreference signals; transmitting, to the UE, the first aperiodicreference signals according to the second transmission control state;and receiving, from the UE, an acknowledgement of the indication to usethe second transmission control state, wherein the acknowledgement istransmitted after the first aperiodic reference signals are transmitted.16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining firstperiodic references signals that share a quasi-colocation (QCL) with thefirst aperiodic reference signals, wherein the first periodic referencesignals are useable for pathloss measurement; and determining not toprovide an explicit indication of reference signals for pathlossmeasurement according to the second transmission control state.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the first periodic reference signalscomprise a synchronization signal block.
 18. The method of claim 15,wherein the indication to use the second transmission control stateincludes an indication of a pathloss reference signal index, wherein theprocessor is further configured to cause the base station to: transmitperiodic reference signals according to the pathloss reference signalindex.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the indication to use thesecond transmission control state includes an indication to use a thirdtransmission control state associated with a second base station. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured tocause the base station to: transmit, to the UE, an indication to use thethird transmission control state for uplink communication.